Wednesday June 3, 2009
Sarawak to preserve burial poles
KUCHING: Sarawak will preserve burial poles which the native tribes used to bury the dead in the old days.
The Sarawak Museum is carrying out a survey on the different types of burial poles, said state Urban Development and Tourism Minister Datuk Michael Manyin.
Grand sight: File pic showing a magnificent twin carved poles with an elaborate salong (burial hut) which is on display at the Sarawak Museum. It was originally made by a Kayan chieftain in the Belaga area for his daughter in the mid 19th century and was presented by the Belaga folks to the museum in 1973. The poles, mostly found in the interior, have different names like klireng, klidieng, salong, jerunai and pagol.
Manyin said that once the survey was completed, the museum would draw up a management plan to preserve the various burial poles.
The museum was also carrying out surveys on, and documenting cultural sites in the Bario Highlands – the heartland of the Orang Ulus – in northern Sarawak.
The joint study, entitled the “Cultural Rainforest”, was being undertaken in collaboration with British universities like Cambridge and Oxford.
“The study will shed light on the history and present day use of the forest as a material and cultural landscape in the highlands,’’ Manyin said.
“It will also give direction and guidelines on how best to manage, preserve and develop the various cultural sites, especially the megaliths and rock engravings.”
The state was bestowed with unique and interesting historical and cultural legacy, he said, adding that it had gazetted 36 historical buildings and sites as historical monuments.
The museum plans to open a Natural History gallery here in November to display the state’s rich natural heritage.
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